Strawberry Dessert
by Potato-kun and SakeHime
Summary: Hello there. Ichigo meet Ryu and Kish, Kish and Ryu meet Ichigo.Sometimes it really is hard crossdressing in a model school when you have pink hair.And is it just an ordinary school? Who is this guy, Masaya, really?
1. Chapter 1

Hello there. Ichigo meet Ryu and Kish, Kish and Ryu meet Ichigo.

Sometimes it really is hard cross-dressing in a model school when you have pink hair.

And is it just an ordinary school? Who is this guy, Masaya, really?

A/N: I'd like to say that this is a practise fic before I do anything else. I don't like TMM anymore, I'm just using the characters in it. (And they are not going to act like they do in TMM.) Though I'm still a bit interested in the couplings.

Oh, and only so you know. No super powers are involved like in this fic, or at least not of the same kind.

Warning: Rated M. 0 Which means… Mature content. If not now, it will come later.

Disclaimer: I do so not own Tokyo Mew Mew. If I did, Kish would be a little older and my slave. D

* * *

Strawberry Dessert 

Chapter One

Walking Strawberry Dessert walking into the School of Horrors

The thing was clearly impossible; Ichigo had already told her mother what she thought about it. Surprisingly the before oh so shy little girl had grown up to a hot tempered sixteen year old pink haired lady. Colourful curses where constantly sprouting from her, and there was nothing her poor but evil mother could do about it. Of course she had worried a lot about her daughter, made a big deal out of it and tried every method possible to do something about it. But when the fact that the still short Ichigo also had more manly friends than the poor woman had toes and fingers came out, she just gave up and retreated. Ever since her daughter was little, she had always had an iron will that wouldn't bend behind her shy personality. When the girl was this far into something she wouldn't listen, no matter what her parents said.

But there was one thing her mother wouldn't let Ichigo do, even if she continued to try to talk herself out of it or even hit her.

She was not going to escape from the boarding school for _models_ her parents were going to send her to.

Normally she wouldn't have thought much about it, it wasn't like she and her parents got along well anyway. But there was this teeny, tiny problem…

The school was an all-boys school. You got that right. All. Boys.

Unfortunately, her old woman had taken the opportunity to copy her own technique.

She simply didn't listen, and Ichigo just knew she probably wouldn't even have a clue that her daughter was going to a place full of hot guys for the next following years.

Well, not that she didn't have her own ways of getting out of this situation. After all, she had saved money for years in case her mother would try to get revenge on her for not being a good daughter. She even had enough money to move to another country and live there till she could get a job.

"You're not thinking about getting out of the country, are you?" Ichigo received a glare from the older woman.

"Of course not, why would I?"

"Well, just in case. I just confiscated all your money. It will be sent in small packages to your school every month."

'…Oh crap...'

* * *

So there she was. In a male uniform in front of Shibata High, exactly 99, 79 miles from home. 

The building in front of her was big, and had absolutely no personality, if you don't count the colour grey as a personality. Everything was in that colour; the building, the ground her feet were stuck on, everything. Also, it was oddly quiet, and it creeped her out.

She let out a heavy sigh, still silently cursing her mother.

_Could need some renovation._

Then, all of the sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was only something she did out of an old habit when punks in the streets used to hit on her when she was out late. But the guy didn't stand a chance anyway. In smooth movements she grabbed his arm and spun around so fast that he wouldn't be able to notice what was happening, and before they both knew it he was laying with his face against the ground, with his arm locked in a painful position by the pink haired girl.

"Oh… hey, easy there…" The guy had blond, unruly hair.

Ichigo quickly let go of him when she noticed he was shaking.

"Sorry…" she muttered. "Just an old habit."

He simply sat up and scratched the back of his head. "Yee… You in a gang or something?"

"Used to be." As a girl, though.

The blond boy looked strangely at her face.

"Hey…You really look like… a girl. You got pink hair and really big eyes. Are you sure you're really a guy?"

Ichigo practically fumed. Of course she was a girl! She just couldn't say anything about it…

"Ey. No need to get so upset, I was joking. And it's not like you have boobs, right?"

She watched in horror as he began to stretch his hand out and reach for her chest. The straps that were supposed to flatten her body wasn't entirely doing they're job. If anyone tried to make sure she was a guy now, she'd be drowning in troubles. (Of course her mother had made sure to blackmail her for various reasons.)

Quickest solution for the problem: Hit him with all your might.

"WHAT THE HELL! DAMN STRAIGHT I DON'T!"

"Oww… what was that for…?" he whined.

"Because you're an idiot." She grumbled.

_Man, this guy will be troublesome. What a pain._

* * *

That was new. Nobody ever hit him. Because he was the richest guy you could find in a radius of 100 km. Get Ryu mad, and you'd be dead. That was what everybody thought. 

This was clearly interesting.

It was a plus that the boy was really cute too.

So what was he going to do about it? Get the cutipie of course!

And that was when another person appeared.

Damn that Kish.

He hated him.

Absolutely hated him.

* * *

"Oh, Ryu", a black haired boy said with a cheeky grin. "Pissing people off, as usual?" 

"Shut up, Kish."

Ichigo just stayed at the same spot. Even though she still was mad, she just couldn't help staring at the boys with fascination as they began to hit each other, just like small kids. She almost smiled for a moment. Key word: Almost.

Because it also irritated her to no end.

"Will you both just shut the fuck up!"

Within three seconds, their heads had been knocked together three times. Hard.

They just stared at her. And she glared at them.

"…What?" the one with the blond messy hair asked stupidly.

And the other one just remained silent.

"You'll give people around here the world's biggest headaches if you continue with your little lovers spat. Please be a little more considerate, okay?" Ichigo said coolly, focusing her eyes on the duo with a killer glare.

Ryu looked at her. His mouth was hanging open, and he looked really surprised. "…Huh?"

…

…

Not good, Ryu.

Not good at all.

…

Very bad, actually.

"I", it began sweetly, "said", it continued as sweetly as ever, and then… "BE A FUCKING BIT MORE CONSIDERATE PRETTYBOY! ARE YOU FRIGGIN' DEAF OR SOMETHING! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?"

Hell was loose.

And Ryu regretted learning how to let it loose.

A smile graced the other boy's lips.

"I like you", Kish said.

As soon as that was said, time stopped. Because Ichigo suddenly felt something wet, soft and warm on her cheek. Her eyes widened in shock. And then there was a hand touching the other half of her face.

Was Kish _licking_ _her!_

_Oh God, no. _

"Yeah, that's right. I'm licking you." His voice was filled with amusement, as if he was reading her thoughts. "I wonder if those pink lips will taste like strawberry…"

_Get the Fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fuck out of my face, get the fucking FUCK OUT OF MY FACE!_

She took a deep breath.

"WHAT THE BEEP DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BEEEEEEPing PERVERT! GET THE BEEEEP OFF ME!"

That was the first near-death-experience Kish ever had.

And after Ichigo had finished, she realized something.

She was still holding Ryu's hair in a firm grip.

And also that he was half dead.

Well, it didn't matter.

"Yosh! I guess I'll get him to show me the school then!" A cheerful smile plastered itself all over her face.

The third thing she realized was that it could be some fun going to this school, Shibata High.

* * *

Or maybe it wasn't that much fun. 

Ichigo was currently being introduced to class 1C by a very frightened teacher. She didn't know why, but she still thought that he looked absolutely terrified. As if he didn't want to be there at all. But how could he be so afraid, when the class only where a bunch of pretty boys? She believed it wasn't anything to be scared of.

"Ichigo-chan! I have a question!"

_Ichigo-chan…?_

"What?" she asked, mildly irritated.

"Are you a girl?"

"Hell, no!"

_Yes. Idiot._

"Then, are you gay?"

"No."

"That's too bad."

Laughter was heard in the classroom.

The girl didn't say a thing. But she succeeded to glare at all of the future models, even though she was blushing madly.

"Oh, that's so cute!"

"Is he going to be a male model? With that girly-looking face!"

"I wanna squeeze him to death!"

"Looks like strawberry dessert."

_The heck…?_

An uneasy feeling was spreading in her stomach. What exactly was with this class?

But then again, it was the best not to worry too much. Instead, she concentrated on finding an empty seat.

She found it, and walked over.

And again, she couldn't help but thinking that something was very strange in this place, because as soon as she came close to that seat, everything became oddly quiet.

"Can I sit here?"

"Sure."

It looked like a nice guy. Black hair, dark eyes and a cool expression on his face.

He nodded politely at her when she sat down.

"I'm Masaya. Nice to meet you."

She nodded. Heavy silence followed, and was only broken by the frightened teacher, who had started teaching by now.

Was this class more than just an ordinary class?

Something just felt… so wrong.

She felt gazes in her back, and then she suddenly heard someone whisper:

"Poor kid…"

* * *

The tears were rolling down her cheeks. 

And there she sat, in the darkness, hoping that nobody would see her.

How was she supposed to handle this?

It was already night, but she couldn't think straight, and she couldn't get the feeling that made her tremble with fear go away.

It had grown bigger and bigger every minute since she took the seat beside Masaya.

_Silence._

The air was hard to breath, thicker than ever, swirling around her like a sea.

Was she drowning?

_Poor kid…_

Masaya…

_Whispers._

Was he the one who…?

She was shaking like a leaf, clutching her forehead with both hands.

_Give me a break…!_

It was like the whole world was dancing to a nightmare melody.

Her head hurt.

_Footsteps…?_

There was a light sound of feet against the floor, coming closer and closer.

Outside the window, it stopped.

And Ichigo lifted her head too see better, but feared to move.

Her eyes widened.

It was him, Masaya. She didn't see him clearly in the darkness, but she knew it was him.

And he knew she was there.

_Why am I so frightened of him?_

The dark boy didn't even turn to look at her.

Everything froze for a moment. He smiled, a frosty smile, like the iciest winter.

After what felt like an eternity, he took one step forward and started to walk away.

And still, when the sound of his footsteps had died, her heartbeats were echoing in her ears.

* * *

A/N: Yosh! First chapter done. :D 

R & R, please. Or else I won't continue writing.>D

Not that anyone will like this fic much anyway… T.T

(goes hunting mutated pancakes)

Hmm… Btw, did I mention that I'm Swedish :D …Now that you know that, please don't complain too much about spelling and grammar errors…pwease... :D


	2. Chapter 2

Konishie Kuzomukie: Thank you:D (Waaah Hit me wif closest hard object if you find anything else like that. XD has only read the manga and does therefore not know very much about hair colors)

ShyFox: Nope. : That was real, though she'll think of it as a dream.

MewChoco: Svensk? blinkar O.o Oj! Kul! XD

And lots of thanks to you others who reviewed too!

…

Forgot to mention it before, but… Actually IchiRyu is my fav couple. ; Though there will still be some IchiKish. And this chapter will contain one-sided MasaIchi. (shudders) I hate that couple… but it's okay as long as it's only Masaya going after Ichigo. XD

Here's another chappie! 3

(Sorry for the wait, btw.)

* * *

Strawberry Dessert

Chapter 2

Crushing the Glass Bubble

* * *

It was pretty late now, Ichigo realized, staring at the dark sky outside of her dorm. Apparently she had fallen asleep, but she didn't know why she woke up in a storage room. All she knew was that she had a cold feeling in her stomach and that her legs felt like jelly.

"Oi, you're late. You were supposed to be here about fifty minutes ago." It was a tall man, probably the one who had been assigned to show her around the school. Considering the circumstances, his voice was really cheerful.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't feeling very well", she said hesitantly, while admiring his long, beautiful hair.

He looked at her curiously for a moment. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. Not that I mind waiting for such a cute boy anyway…" he said jokingly and smiled.

Ichigo blushed.

"Aw, that s so cute!"

"…"

Suddenly a heavy drop of water landed on her forehead. It was soon followed by others.

She froze, as the pictures came pouring into her head, faster than a flood.

"Oops, now it started raining. Guess you can call it timing that you came here before it started. Let's go inside…"

Something inside of her was hurting, hurting so badly that she wanted to scream. But she couldn't. Only silence came from her mouth.

She remembered now. But wasn't that a dream? It had to be!

"Hey, you ok!"

All she saw was the face of that boy.

"Momomiya-san!"

* * *

Something was very warm. It had a nice feeling to it too, and whatever it was, it was very close to her. Not to mention that it smelled nice! The whole thing made her toes curl with delight. So she snuggled closer to it. However, something was definitely very weird. It almost felt as if she was touching human skin, soft, smooth and wa…

_Waitaminute! Human SKIN?_

She was afraid to open her eyes, but did it anyway.

What they saw was a sunny smile from a very handsome boy with blond hair.

"Mornin' sunshine!"

Ichigo blinked, and turned her head away for a moment to look around.

The second thing she noticed that morning was that a very pissed Kish was tied to a chair in the corner of the room, and that he was cursing Ryu with all he had.

"Fucking bastard! Stealing MY idea!"

The girl blinked again, and turned her head back to the object of the green haired boy's anger.

And screamed.

Because the guy was half naked and currently in the same bed as her.

"PERVERT! GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!"

"No."

_Why the Hell not?_

"Why the Hell not!"

"Dun wanna."

"What's wrong with you! It's not like I'm gay or anything, so get out of the bed."

"If you're not gay, then why are you overreacting?"

_Because I'm a girl. Mom, I hate you for sending me to this school._

Ichigo just growled and punched his face.

"Will you just quit acting like you're about to eat me alive?"

* * *

Inwardly Ryu smiled evilly. This one had to be worth the effort, since things weren't even going according to his brilliant plan. Brilliant plan as in:

Step One: Charm him with you're looks.

Step Two: Kiss him and ask him out.

Step Three: …err… There wasn't a step three yet.

Usually, it didn't go wrong, so why not try it?

Beside all of that stuff with him hitting on a guy for the first time in his life, something about the guy was bothering him. For a first, it didn't seem like he really wanted to go to the school. He hadn't noticed at first, but after the first period started, it was almost as if the pink haired boy was afraid of something. It was the way he sat on a chair; stiffly, the way he moved, and also his way of not listening to the teacher. And he didn't even seem like a guy who'd want to become a model.

Secondly, apparently he was afraid of people touching him. And he had good muscles and reflexes. All of this made him wonder what kind of past Ichigo had. (Also, while thinking about muscles, he wondered why this guy's flesh still was so soft, though he obviously was well trained.)

Suddenly he put all of those thoughts away in a dark corner of his mind, when his target had grown tired of having him in the same bed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Aw, he was just too cute!

Again, that disappeared into a dark hole, as Ichigo sent him flying into the wall.

Kish, who hadn't enjoyed the previous scene very much, gave up a squeak of malicious pleasure at the satisfying sound of the wall cracking. Especially since it was Ryu who was impacting with it.

The blonde bounced of the wall, landing hard and painfully on the floor.

"That's what you get for being a pervert."

And then he was violently thrown out of the room.

As he thought. It _was_ worth the effort.

* * *

And there Ichigo stood in the middle of the room, still being seriously pissed off, and blushing madly.

"That bastard."

He'd be so dead next time she saw him.

It was silent there for a couple of minutes, except from the small sounds of annoyance that occasionally came from her.

"Ano…" Kish broke the so called silence.

"What?"

"Would you please untie me? Class is starting in three minutes."

Hearing that made the girl panic. If her mom got the impression that she wasn't behaving well on the new school, she'd not get any money for a looong time. And that meant no food.

"Damn!"

So she decided to hurry up.

In three seconds, she sat next to the chair, trying desperately to get the ropes to loosen up. Not that she wasn't thankful that he had been tied up, who knew what he could have done if he wasn't? But at least the blond bastard could have had the kindness to properly release him before class.

Then it happened again.

Kish's face was very close to hers, his tongue once again on her cheek, leaving a small trail of saliva.

"Gotcha", he said, evilly, having a playful expression on.

It took some time for her to react.

"Eww! Gross! Damn it, Kish, I'll kill you!"

* * *

When Ichigo entered the classroom, she was sure she had a very disturbed look on her face. She rubbed her cheek, disgusted with Kish's little trick.

He was, by the way, still tied to that chair in her room.

It was better that way.

The world wouldn't miss a perverted monster like him

At least it seemed like the teacher didn't.

And she surely did not.

She sighed and made her way to her seat beside Masaya.

He still gave her the creeps.

A few minutes went, and then someone called out for her.

"Hey, short stuff!" a tall boy shouted. He had gorgeous eyes that didn't affect Ichigo one bit. Just another one of the typical model types, it was no big deal, since the whole place was full of them.

"Who're you calling short?" she asked, sickening sweetly, hoping he got the hint.

"…What? I didn't... Ehehe…"

_Good boy._

"What's up with you, sweetie? You've been rubbing your cheek for five minutes now."

"Got attacked by an alien. And don't call me 'sweetie' again, got it?"

"Sure, honey. Sounds great being attacked by an alien."

Ichigo fumed.

"Anyway, we decided to make a fanclub for you. Great, isn't it?"

It was the first time she ever saw a smile extend itself as far as to the ears.

She decided to ignore him.

_Ah, this school is full with freaky people! I can't stand it...! Save meeee, someone!_

She could see how her classmates turned around and stared at her every time they got bored with the lesson, some of them with predatory grins. Chills went down her spine every time it happened. She almost felt like she was a small, trembling rabbit, cornered by a pack of stray dogs.

"Is something the matter, Ichigo-san?"

Masaya spoke up for the first time that day, every word he said quieting all of the boys down.

He didn't help. At all.

"Nothing."

* * *

Somehow, she found herself in the dark storage room again. And it wasn't something she liked, not after that dream she had. But the thing was, she couldn't get out. It was locked from the outside, and this time it was completely dark. The window that had let her see the outside in her dream had been covered up with planks of wood to prevent anyone from smashing it. It didn't provide her with any of the daylight.

Freezing a bit, she fumbled to find the light switch, and panicked when she didn't find it.

"Anyone out there?" she shouted, helplessly.

Suddenly she realized she wasn't alone in the small black space.

"It's no use", a sweet, yet icy voice said. Ichigo recognized it as Masaya's.

Immediately she became very scared of being there.

What would he do to her?

The question was partially answered when he pushed her to the floor with his whole weight.

Lying on the scared girl, he let one hand stroke her face, while the other one sneaked up under her shirt.

"I wonder why a girl is in this place", he whispered with cold amusement.

Ichigo flinched when the hand under her shirt began to loosen the bandages that strapped her breasts down. Wide-eyed with fear, she struggled to get free, which only resulted in him pressing her down more.

How did he know? How?

And what was the matter with her? She had been in situations like this so many times before, yet she couldn't do a thing but to watch it happen. Why couldn't she move? It had never been like this before. Even the first time, when she got dragged into a dark alley at night by a guy she had thought of as a friend, when felt his stinking breath in her face and the cold bricks against her back, she had been able to beat the shit out of him.

She bit her lip hard to suppress a moan when Masaya's thumb drew small circles on her breast, giving her a pleasure she didn't want.

Even in the pitch black nothingness she saw, she felt him smirking.

Her teeth bit down so hard on her lower lip, that the skin couldn't take the pressure anymore, letting warm liquid come to the surface.

In no time, there was a hot tongue there, licking and sucking it up. Her mouth was forced open in a rough, hard kiss that tasted of metal and blood.

Ichigo couldn't hold the small sounds of unwilling pleasure down anymore

"You like that, huh?" his voice said smoothly when he finally lifted his head and ended the kiss. "I do. You taste sweet."

Then he bent down, continuing what he had started, nibbling on her ear lobe. The hand that had been stroking her face moved up and got a firm grip of her wrists, while the other one slowly made its way down, lower and lower on her body, in under her pants.

"Let me go…" she whispered, frightened.

But really, what was there to be afraid of? If she didn't have the strength to break free right now, she could always gather it.

"Sorry, but I don't plan to."

She didn't want to get raped.

But she wouldn't. Ichigo convinced herself that she would be safe, and started to build up her courage, little by little, mixing it with the feeling of not wanting it to happen.

Right before the hand reached its goal, she became desperate.

"GET OFF ME, I SAID!" she screamed.

It was as if a spell had been broken.

Three seconds later she had shoved him off her, kicked the door open, and was now running away from the madness the fastest she could.

* * *

It was Ryu who found her, hours later.

And when he did, the sudden adrenaline kick was over long ago, her school uniform and the straps corrected and on place.

The problem was that she was sobbing helplessly, and that he found her in the bushes, where she tried to hide.

He tried his best to comfort her; even let her wet his shirt with tears, but didn't have a clue what had made Ichigo this way. And he still didn't know that the person that cried in his arms, in fact, was a girl.

* * *

A/N: Done. (tired)

(whistles a little)

Next chappie is probably gonna be about Ichigo's first model job, and contain some Kish and Ryu evilness. Fwaha. XD

(Though it may take some time before I get it done... T.T)


	3. Chapter 3

_Again, Thanks for the reviews _

A few explanations:

Masaya is EVIL, in case you haven't noticed. Ever noticed how disgustingly nice he is? He HAS to be evil. Oh God, I HATE him so much!

Also, the rest of the TMM girls are older in this fic, and that's why you won't see them very much.

Oh. And about the slow updates. I can't update more often, I swear. Because I really have lots of stuff to do.

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own TMM, or any of the characters. (Except Shuya. He's mine. Heheh.)

* * *

Strawberry Dessert 

Chapter 3

That's what you get.

* * *

God knew it was hard not to worry, the blonde thought one week later, sitting down, listening to the teachings of someone who didn't want to be there. 

Ironically his name meant dragon. The dragon itself was a symbol of wisdom and protection, but what was he? Nothing but an idiot, an idiot who couldn't protect anyone.

And it was obvious that this particular person needed all protection he could get. From what he did not know, but it still stood clear that it was the truth.

There was also one question that echoed in his mind.

Why?

He shot a glance across the classroom.

At first, he knew he liked the boy because of his looks, and also the fact that he got to work hard for something. But to go as far as actually being genuinely worried? Just what was that?

He found himself staring at the guy every so often, not being able to tear his eyes away. Not from the way he swayed his hips when he walked, almost like a girl, nor from the soft pink lips' movement when he talked, and much less from his sparkling deep eyes.

He some times felt that, when looking at Ichigo, he'd give up all he had to be able stare at his beauty forever and ever and ever.

And still he wondered why.

He really did not know.

But something when that brat cried his eyes out, wetting his shirt, sobbing into his chest, a part of him felt like he was about to cry, he too. What he had felt at that time was the terrifying feeling of a hollow emptiness filling him from the stomach and up to his throat. The emptiness of being so close to someone you could not do a single thing for.

He hadn't even dared to speak, as if the pink haired boy was made of fragile porcelain, which even the smallest of movements could break.

And yet, here he was today, only five seats away, acting as if he was completely restored. Laughing, smiling with those seducing lips, and talking, like the events of the previous week never had occurred at all.

He always caught his attention.

Ichigo Momomiya simply had him spellbound.

* * *

"Okay, listen up guys. These are your first jobs as models." 

Now it had been exactly eight days since the incident.

Ichigo wondered why the normal teacher wasn't there, but didn't mind too much, all the previous one could do was to... shiver, and let the boys do whatever they wanted. It was a nice change to not have them all staring at her, and she had the possibility to focus on something else than Masaya. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she was more scared of him than ever before. So what could she do? More than put on a mask, and pretend it never happened?

All she knew was that she, no matter what, wouldn't let him get a chance like that again.

"As you might know, there are a few things you need to keep in mind when you're in front of a camera. One is the fact that the photographer will want you to either completely become someone else, or completely be yourself. None of them are easy to do. Basically you need to know how to…"

"Hey, honey", whispered the tall boy, and founder of her fanclub, suddenly. He had sincerely told her his name was Shuya a few days ago.

"I told you not to call me that!" she hissed back.

"Is it okay if I call you 'cutie' then?"

"No!"

"Aw… Then…Sugar top?"

"No, idiot!"

"That was mean…" he pouted. "What about neko-chan?"

"WHAT!" Neko meant cat! Cat, for fuck's sake! She wasn't a bloody pet!

Unfortunately this was said, or rather shouted out, a little bit too loud, which caused the teacher to glare at her.

"Mind sharing your thoughts with us, Momomiya-kun? If it's more interesting than this, I'd love to hear it."

"…It's nothing. Sorry."

"Actually it's my fault. Sorry. It seems I insulted him very badly." Shuya sniffed, looking like a puppy begging for forgiveness,

"… Just don't do it again, okay?"

He just nodded.

_Pfft… Talk about lousy acting. At least he might stop bothering me now…_

But she was wrong. Only a few minutes went by, before he said:

"What about 'darling'?"

"Definitely denied!"

"Aw, lady of my heart you hurt my feelings."

"Quit it!"

"Dear?"

"No."

"Love?"

"NO!"

"Then what can I call you?"

Ichigo gave it a moment's thought.

"You may call me 'Master'." It was said with a smirk.

"'Kay!" Shuya said with so much happiness that she regretted what she had done

"…So, what was it you wanted?"

"I just wanted to ask if you were nervous about the photo shooting", he grinned.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Kish scribble something with incredible speed at the other end of the room. One moment later, a little ball of paper, which she suspected actually was meant for Shuya, landed on her head. That was confirmed when she read the message in it.

It read:

_Don't worry about our cute Ichigo-chan. He's a high-class piece of ass. He'll pull through without any trouble. I'm sure about that._

The pink haired girl blushed madly and gave Kish the finger. And that bastard just faked a hurt look, before turning to the teacher again.

"If there are any troubles, make sure to contact me before the shoot. Also, there's a price for the one who produces the best works, and it consist of a month's fill of free meal tickets, and also… you will get some of your pictures published in one of our big weekly magazines. The shoot takes place at Silver Studios eleven AM tomorrow. Be on time, or I'll eat your brains. That's all. You're free to go."

Ichigo only heard the part about "free meal tickets".

She dashed out of the school building and sped back to the dorm – she was definitely going to win this!

* * *

Ryu continued to question himself at every occasion possible. Why did he really have the hots for one of the same gender, especially when the person was crazy enough to have pink hair? 

He got his answer when said person poked his adorable head through the door the separated his room from the corridor. Only that it wasn't that adorable anymore.

His hair was dripping wet, darkened to an even deeper pink colour by the water. Droplets on his very kissable lips, eyes half closed, the pale skin as smooth as ever. He was dressed in a pair of small shorts and a loosely hanging t-shirt that was so big that it let one of his shoulders show.

He was sexy, damn sexy. Actually the sexiest thing with two legs that he had ever seen.

Ryu felt his throat go very dry.

"Whadya want?" said the annoyed Ichigo.

And to his own surprise, he didn't remember

"Dunno, just wanted to hang out, I guess."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'd like be alone now. Scram."

"Aw, that's mean. What's so important that you don't have time for your beloved friends?"

Ichigo snorted. "Since when do you have the privilege of being called my 'friend'?"

He lost his temper.

"Maybe since one week ago when you fucking sobbed your eyes out on my shirt because you was sexually harassed, or whatever it was that happened!"

The boy glared darkly at him.

"I advise you not to talk about that."

"And why the hell not? Especially since you don't tell me anything about it! In case you don't know, I'm actually worried about you. I don't have a freaking clue why, but I just feel bad when you're not your usual self!"

"Don't be worried about me", Ichigo replied stiffly.

"Well, so damn sorry about that."

"…"

Ryu slowly felt the anger fade away when he looked at his stubborn face.

"So… what are you doing?"

He almost expected him to slam the door into his face and never talk to him again.

Surprisingly enough, it never happened. Ichigo just ran a hand a hand through his still dripping hair, setting Ryu in a dazed state of happiness with his godlike looks.

He was so gorgeous…

If he got thrown out again, maybe he'd make his butler call for a private helicopter, kidnap Pink Hair-chan and flee to China?

"Whatever. If you wanna go inside, just hurry up, 'cause this door is gonna close in five seconds." So Ryu quickly slinked past her, into the room. "In case you wanna know, I'm cutting my hair."

It was amazingly clean there, considering the fact that two certain guys, including himself, had been thrown around in there after a few calculating shadow attacks.

"Cutting your hair? Why?"

"Three words. Photo Shoot Tomorrow. I want the meal tickets."

"Oh."

After that, the cute boy pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket.

"Be sure to put at least one and a half meter between you and me."

"Why?"

"It's fine with me, but I don't think you want pink, fluffy hair all over your precious shirt when I work my magic."

"Does it really fly like that?"

Ichigo smirked. "Wanna see for yourself?"

And then she started.

All Ryu could say was: "Wow."

* * *

"Hey, you ruined my shirt!" 

"Well, baka-chan, I did warn ya."

"I didn't think you were serious."

"Too bad." She shrugged, admiring herself in the bathroom mirror, while Ryu glared at her.

She liked her new hair; it wasn't too boyish, and not too girlish, kind of messy, but not too messy. Though it was the shortest she had had in years now. It wasn't even as long as to her chin anymore.

Then suddenly interrupting her thoughts, a pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around her.

"You look damn hot like that", the blond boy breathed into her ear.

"I told you to stop it already, idiot-bastard!" said Ichigo dangerously between clenched teeth.

Since she really was growing tired of it all, she aimed for the nuts.

"Ow, what did you do that for?"

"Look, it's your own fault, okay?"

"That's right", a third voice laughed. "You'll only have yourself to blame if you can't get any kids in the future, Ryu-darling. By the way Ichigo-chan, you look absolutely stunning like that."

That's right. Our favourite Kish joined the show!

"Oh, and did I mention, lickable, kissable, huggable and definitely utterly fu-"

"Shut up!"

Two seconds went by, as Kish was flying through the air, out in the cold corridor, before there was a loud, crashing sound.

Not bothering thinking too much about it, Ichigo noticed that her door had turned into wood splinters, with only the hinges still fastened to the wall.

It was the third one this week.

Oh well, she'd just let someone repair it next morning.

But the principal was not going to like it.

Not one bit.

Maybe she'd break a window instead next time?

"Ouch…" Kish whimpered from the outside.

* * *

The studio was not very spacey, but there was enough room for a small audience, which in this case was the class. It was high up to the ceiling, something that was needed sometimes to give any kind of shoot or filming a natural feel to it. 

The bunch of currently nervously chattering teenagers were slowly silenced by the female photographer they were about to work with, while Daisuku, their substitute teacher surely was lurking somewhere in the shadows behind the stage. It amazed Ichigo to no end how patient the woman was.

"If you all would be so kind and listen, I'd like to say a few words. I'm Zakuro, and I'm one of the people who'll teach you how to please a cameraman and produce good works. The rest will arrive later on."

"Wow, she's hot! Don't you think so, Master?" Shuya whispered in Ichigo's ear, not being bothered about calling the girl 'Master'. "But of course, nothing can beat you, oh Beauty of Beauties", he added hastily.

Ichigo didn't reply, but was thinking that what he said first was true; this woman was indeed sexy, with long silky hair that made the girly part of Ichigo jealous, and a tall slender figure that most females only could dream of.

"Okay, now I'm going to call your names, one by one, and you'll follow one of our kind workers into different dressing rooms, where you will get clothes and make-up. If you have your own ideas, you're welcome to share them with the stylist. Ready? Then, first up: Aizawa!"

A nervous blond boy quickly got to his feet and disappeared through one of the many doors in the back with a thin, African-looking guy.

"Aoyama!"

Masaya rose from his seat with a small smirk playing at his lips.

Eventually, her turn came to go into one of the many rooms with the same man who had led Aizawa before.

She didn't even bother greeting the stylist.

_This is business, baby. Those meal tickets WILL be mine!_

"May I get free hands, miss?" was the first thing that was said.

Miss Hippo, as Ichigo had decided to call her in her mind (due to a very big nose), just smiled and nodded.

"Whatever you want, sweetie."

Therefore, Ichigo wasted no time, and got to work immediately.

She smirked and shot the imaginary enemy she saw in the mirror.

"Bang!"

Then, after a moment of staring at herself, she added: "It's Showtime, folks!"

* * *

"Hey…" Kish said, appearing at Ryu's side. "Wanna go peeping at him when he changes?" 

"Yeah, why not?" Ryu shrugged, and smiled evilly.

But of course, they found their selves kicked out before they even got close.

* * *

She had chosen to work with mainly colours that could bring out her natural paleness. Also, she had put a lot of effort into making her few boyish features stand out more. 

Ichigo knew better than any make-up artist what it was that suited her, how she could transform herself into someone else. That was the reason she'd never let any of them lay one hand on her appearance.

She took a deep breath, inwardly cursing the damn bandages on her chest – they wouldn't let her breath properly. Speaking of bandages, that was also one thing she had chosen to work with. Black bandages, actually, and her arms were all wrapped in them. Other than that, she was wearing black pants and a loose, black t-shirt.

Then she stepped back into the studio, pale in all the black, pink bangs hanging down over her eyes, making her look extremely dangerous. At first, she had wanted to add some fake blood too, but realized that it probably wouldn't be liked by the Daisuku, because that teacher was a boring asshole.

A collective gasp was heard.

Then there was a collective nosebleed. Two guys fainted from major blood loss, and were brought to the hospital later on.

Zakuro just smiled. "Right on time, dude", she said, completely unaffected. After all, she had seen it all before. "The stage is yours."

"Sensei. I- I h-have a problem", one of the pupils gulped at the sight of Ichigo's seductive new self.

"Me too", Shuya said happily.

"Me too" a third one added.

"Oh, really", their substitute teacher said dryly.

"Bathroom!" a chorus of voices screeched, before rushing towards the exit.

Those who still were there, were that creepy Masaya and Shuya, who told her that he wouldn't miss it for anything in the world.

She stuck her tongue out at the first mentioned.

He just raised one eyebrow.

_Ah, what the Hell? I just don't care. FUCK HIM, I AM going to get MY meal tickets, no matter if there a freaky pervert staring at me a little!_

With that thought, she placed herself in a striking pose, and smiled challenging.

"Good! Stay like that."

* * *

"Ah, shut up!" Kish screeched at the breakfast table, frantically clutching his ears. "I've got a fucking head ache here!" 

He was right, it was damn noisy there.

It was the excitement from the day before that remained.

And this was the one and only time Ichigo had ever placed herself at his side of free will. She'd never do it again. So far, he had tried to lick her three times, hug her about seven times, and kiss her eleven times. Put it all together, and he had earned twenty-one punches. The only reason he hadn't got them yet was that Ichigo didn't want to ruin her breakfast, but he'd pay, that was for sure!

"Do I need to remind you of how considerate people were when I got a head ache her one my first day here?" she asked, munching happily on a cheese bagel.

"Whatever! At least make me stop thinking about yesterday, please? You snatched my meal tickets! (And I couldn't even see how you made it.) How mean!"

That's right; he and Ryu had both missed her performance, since the got lost in the many dark corridors that led to nearly sixty different dressing rooms. That was what they got for peeping.

"Sure!" Ichigo smiled cheekily.

She pressed the half eaten bagel into Kish's face.

Everything was still for three minutes. Then he got a look of utter horror.

Ichigo burst out laughing, as his face slowly turned white.

After five more minutes, the green haired boy let out a high pitched scream, which made the rest of the guys present join the girl in her hysterical laughter.

* * *

A/N: Done. 

Guess what? I wrote three out of four parts of this chapter on a rainy day. / Because I was BORED. (sniffs) And I don't like it very much. Boring chapter. T.T (sighs)

Next Chappie:

Features a jealous Ryu and some of Masaya's supernatural powers.

And will Ichigo be found out?

…

Remember to review

;D It might help me with my inspiration, you know.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Waaah! Thanks so much for all the reviews. And so sorry for the new chapter being this late! TT I've had this HUGE writer's block for a couple of months, and it still is there. And I've been really, really, really busy with a lot of stuff.

…And this chapter most likely sucks. ;;;;

…And sorry about not replying to the reviews. ;;; I'm just too tired right now.

**Again, the DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. **(Except Shuya.)

On with the story:

* * *

Strawberry Dessert 

A Bad Day

* * *

"Hey, Ryu, look! My shoe locker is full of love-letters!" Ichigo squeaked, just to tease the guy. 

He snorted, clearly in a sour mood.

"And look, this one even has a love poem in it… Aw, how sweet."

Ryu glared at the piece of paper in Ichigo's hands.

It was one week after the magazine with the pictures had been published.

He didn't like it at all, but still he secretly carried those certain pages with him in his pocket, everywhere he went.

"Look, look! This one's from a guy… hmm… let's see... another poem."

Ryu wanted to burn them all. Burn them and dance in circles around the ashes. Resisting the urge to violently take the pieces of paper from the "boy", he turned around to walk away, but ended up staring his eyes out instead. The nearest four trash cans were all full of heart marked papers and cards in different colours, some with perfume, and some with the word "love" written all over them in bright pink letters.

Ryu stared at them, not believing his eyes.

"All that for just one magazine…" he muttered, as a head ache slowly was building up in his front.

"Huh? You say anything?"

"Nothing." Above everything else, Ryu now wanted to turn the pink haired person's attention off all letters. And the excuse he made to himself was that it wasn't good too feed anyone's ego that much. Somehow he had figured out how his thoughts went, and now also a way to prevent them from getting through. He needed excuses, and he felt pathetic for it. Because he refused to accept the fact that he perhaps liked Ichigo more than he thought. He was curious, that was all.

"Come on, let's go to class. We're getting late."

* * *

There it was again. That cold feeling that never failed to make her scared, even though there wasn't even anything abnormal. 

Maybe she was just suffering from paranoia?

No, that wasn't it… Somehow she had gotten familiar with it during the last three weeks. And she hadn't forgotten the incident with Masaya either. She knew it had something to do with him.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she pushed the door to the classroom open and entered, soon followed by Ryu.

Judging from the fact that the teacher was already there, Ichigo knew they were late, just like Ryu had said. But strangely enough, it wasn't the teacher they had had before that was there, it was Daisuku, and even stranger was the fact that he did not scold them. He just turned to them with a serious look in his eyes.

"…Ah. Momomiya-san, Shirogane-san… Good that you came. Please sit down."

Immediately, they both understood that something was wrong, but took their seats without any questions.

Masaya was wearing an eerie smile.

The teacher slowly started speaking again. "…As I was saying, from now on I will be your teacher. Tachikawa-sensei won't be coming anymore. He…"

Ichigo hesitantly raised her hand, ignoring her bench neighbour's ice eyes.

"Yes, Momomiya-san?"

"…What happened to him?"

"…He's dead."

"Dead…!"

"Yes…"

A silent murmur coursed through the class.

"But he wasn't sick." It was Shuya, the self-declared president of her fanclub who raised his voice first.

"…No. A student found him lying on the ground with a broken neck, lungs punctured one three places and almost every bone in his body crushed. …It's really hard to say this, but… he committed suicide. He jumped from the roof."

"Sensei! How can we know he wasn't pushed?"

Daisuku slowly shook his head. "There was no evidence of struggle, and no witnesses. He even left a note in his room; however it was in such a condition that made it impossible to read most of the words. And from what I know – and I was his close friend – he did not have any enemies that would want him dead."

Ichigo listened carefully; taking note of everything that was said. Somehow, she had an itching feeling that what the teacher said wasn't the whole truth. Perhaps, he did not know it himself, but there were some pieces that didn't fit. For an example, the note – if Tachikawa really left a note, he would want someone to read it, and therefore lay it in a place where it wouldn't get damaged.

Something was wrong…

"Ne, sensei!" shouted Shuya suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Let's not talk about depressing stuff like this anymore!" He practically bounced in his seat. "Let's do something fun instead! Like a game or switching seats!"

Temporarily, she forgot all about the "suicide", and had to fight to hold back a laugh, when she saw the corner of the older man's mouth and his eyebrow twitch uncontrollably.

"Oh?" the teacher let out, throwing a half assed glare at the students.

For once, time flew quickly, as Shuya bounced around suggesting things that made Daisuku's face turn into grimaces Ichigo hadn't even known existed, while Kish and Ryo fought about the silliest things.

She didn't even notice how a certain dark-haired boy's face was twisted in a look of rage and displeasure. He didn't like this one bit.

His prey ignored him.

* * *

It was the end of her school day. Finally. 

She had waited for it so many hours now. After that first class, everything else had seemed to go so slow.

But something was terribly wrong.

"Iiiiichigo-kuuun! A moment, pleeease?"

She groaned, and turned back to the classroom, where her teacher in Arts and Photography currently was standing, waving frantically with her hands.

"What is it?"

"Zakuro-sama called to say that you have a job offer, and she wants you to drop by sometime this afternoon." The woman looked at her throw a pair of big glasses.

Ichigo gulped. "Okay…" Job offer? Yeah, sure, but she was supposed to act like a _guy_! As long as she didn't need to get help from other people while dressing, that would be okay, but… still. Besides, she wouldn't me able to concentrate as long as the death case had been solved.

Maybe it was pure impulse, maybe it wasn't, but Ichigo had a sudden urge to know more about it… So she asked.

"Ne, sensei. Do you know anything about Tachikawa-sensei's death?"

"Eh? Ichigo-kun? … I do, but that's -"

"That's what? Listen, I know how the school wants to always produce new idols, but I can't work with Zakuro-san if I don't get this off my mind."

"Really? That would be terrible!"

Oh? Seemed like she hit a spot there.

"And you see, I really, really wanted this job… so…"

"Ah, of course! I'll do what I can!"

"Thank you!" Ichigo flashed her a bright smile.

"Hmm…I'm not too sure myself, but it seems like the only words on the note he left were 'I won't be a coward anymore. I'll face it', or something like that. "

"Ah, thank you…" He said he was a coward and that he'd face something? It still didn't fit. Did it mean that the teacher was going to face death? From what Ichigo knew, he never had a death wish, but it seemed he was afraid of something, or rather someone, in the class.

Then it clicked.

Masaya.

"Oh, it was nothing!" her Arts teacher chirped.

Suddenly it felt like the world was spinning around her. She was not only scared anymore – she was furious!

No matter what, she'd get that bastard, even if she died!

* * *

"Ah, Momomiya-san. Good that you came." Zakuro looked up from her paper works when the pink-haired teen entered. "Sit down." She made a gesture towards a rickety-looking wooden stool. Ichigo eyed it sceptically before doing so. 

"Again, good that you came. Let's get straight to business."

Ichigo nodded.

"First of all, I know that you aren't a boy."

"Eh!" It came as a cold shower. After all that work…!

"For safety reasons, we're video-taping all the changing rooms. But rest assured, I was the only one who saw your tape, and it's gone now, even though we girls usually enjoy watching the tapes together." Here she blushed a little, but kept the professional air around her. "What they don't know won't hurt them", said she airily. Ichigo would have been highly amused if she only wasn't so shocked.

"…Then… are you going to tell others…?" she asked weakly.

"No. I don't know why you're dressing up as a guy, but I understand there's a reason behind it…" Zakuro told her with an almost soft voice. It was as if she let go of her cold business image for a few seconds.

"Thank you…"

"No problem. …About the job offer I sent you a message about. Shall I tell you more about it?"

"…Yes, please do so…" Ichigo nodded slowly, a bit hesitant.

"Okay. First of all, our agency is working with all kinds of things, involving models, but I guess you already knew that. Well, basically we received an offer yesterday about a new brand, selling mainly gothic Lolita and Dandy clothes, but also some other things, like hair accessories, jewellery and make-up. The model for the gothic Dandy is already fixed, but we need a female model too. That would be you."

"Me…? But-"

"Ara?" Zakuro looked amused. "Didn't you know that there are many cross-dressers in the model world? You of all should know."

"Err…"

"What I'm saying is that there's no need at all to worry about your class-mates. All they'll do is joke a bit more about you being a girl. They won't find out. So… will you accept?"

"How much is the pay?"

"For the basic job, you get 300 dollars. Then you'll get more depending on how much the brand is selling. Sounds like a fair deal?"

"Yeah. I'll do it."

"That's a relief. I couldn't think of anyone else. And your appearance is perfect for this. I'll introduce you to my colleagues tomorrow, okay?"

"Eh, yeah… Am I supposed to come as soon as school ends?"

"…Something like that."

"I'll be there."

Zakuro smiled wolfishly.

"By the way, it seems you totally outclassed my make-up artist."

Ichigo blushed. "Err… I don't… That is… I didn't mean to offend Miss Hippo- I mean…! Oh my God! I'm only making it sound worse, don't I?"

The dark-haired woman stared at her with an unreadable face, almost making Ichigo bang her head against Zakuro's desk in embarrassment. This was so not her! How could this person make her act so… clumsy?

"Miss… Hippo?"

If it was possible, Ichigo's face reddened even more. "Y-you see… she had this particularly big n-nose", she stuttered.

Zakuro cracked up. She laughed hysterically, banging her fists into the poor desk she was sitting at.

Some time later, when she finally calmed down, wiping away a few merry tears from the corner of her eyes, she said: "Sorry about that.. It's just that now that I think about it, she really resembles a hippo. It's a miracle anyone hasn't noticed before. Anyway, about that; don't worry. She's actually just a trainee. Had dreams of being a model, but she didn't want to change herself and she liked her appearances because they were just who she was. So she started working with make-up instead. You have no clue how excited she was after the shoot. She practically bounced up and down and made me promise you'd come here again even if you in some mystic way didn't get any job offers."

"… Eh?"

"Basically, she's in love with you already", stated Zakuro dryly. "But I must admit you made a pro job with your whole appearance. May I ask where you learned doing that?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I used to hang out with a lot of 'thugs' before I came here. Some years ago when I joined my first gang, the leader happened to be a pro performer and ballerina that took out her frustrations by hanging with the 'wrong people'. She taught me all she knew about make-up – you know all the stuff about how it could make you seem like an entirely new person, what suited different people and so on. She didn't exactly want to be recognized. But then she broke her leg and we never heard anything from her again."

"I see. You were a thug."

Ichigo started stammering again, trying to defend herself, but the older woman interrupted her.

"Hey, don't worry. It was just a joke." She smiled. "Besides I like you too much to throw you out because of something like that."

Suddenly it wasn't so bad to have someone to be clumsy around.

"But if you ever tell anyone you saw me laughing like that, I'll rip your guts out with my nails. Wouldn't want my image to be ruined now, would I."

To that, the teenager could only laugh. "It's a promise."

Zakuro smirked. "Okay, you're free to go."

* * *

It was evening. 

On her way back, Ichigo had felt as light as air, happier than she had been in a long time. All matters concerning Masaya, weird behaviours and Tachikawa-sensei had been completely wiped off her mind. She felt a bit giddy, and completely content. Maybe, if all went well, she'd be able to quit this school, start ignoring her mother and get a decent place to work at.

Yes, she was happy.

So why did this have to happen?

Why was her room completely _destroyed_? Things were scattered all over the floor, furniture was seemingly thrown around, and nothing was where it should be. Even her bags from home had been turned upside down.

Staring at the wall in her room, where the wallpaper was ripped and dirty, she thought it had probably been too good to be true. In bleeding red letter, a message was written there.

"Do not forget.

You are my toy."

She was scared. She knew who had written it. But above all, she was angry.

That Masaya was a cruel, sadistic bastard. He played with people's minds, clawed them like a cat claws a mouse before eating it, playing with them for hours, days, weeks and even months. And then he killed them, to put even more people into suffering. Oh, she had seen that. She knew that look once she saw it. Because she herself had a bit of a sadistic streak in her, though not even close to Masaya's. And those icy eyes of his glinted with amusement every time someone got hurt.

Behind her, the door creaked. She whirled around, fists in the air, prepared for anything. Her eyes flashed furiously with hate. If it was anyone she didn't like now, then heaven help them. Even though it perhaps wasn't the smartest idea to pummel the first person that went through that door, she desperately needed to vent her frustration.

"Whoa, hey…!"

Almost disappointed, Ichigo lowered her hands. It was only Kish.

"You scared me, Ichigo-chan. No need to be so jumpy and- Hey! What the _hell_ happened in here!"

Ichigo growled. "I don't really know, but I have a clue."

"… Then let's go and report it to the principal."

"Are you stupid? He'll probably think I'm doing it myself because of all the times I broke the door and window by throwing you and that other idiot out!" Kish gulped at her outburst.

"But what if it happens again?"

"If it happens again, I'll personally kill that bastard!"

"That bastard…?"

She quieted down as soon as she realized her slip.

"What would you do if I told you it was… Aoyama Masaya… that did all of this?" She was biting her lip.

Strangely enough, Kish didn't seem to think she was crazy when she asked this. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but for a small moment, a look of recognition flew over his features.

"I'll kill him!" he growled.

"The _hell_ you will!"

"What the…? After all of this!"

"I'm just saying you're not going to be the one to kill him! _I will_."

"No, you won't! You just stay away from him!"

"No way. No way in hell! I'm going to do this myself!"

"Damn it, Ichigo! Don't you get it! He's dangerous!"

"So am I", said Ichigo coldly.

Kish flinched. "…Look, I'm sorry. But you don't know the guy…"

"I know enough."

"…Again, sorry… But I don't think you really understand, even though you probably know his personality and all that. I won' let you near him if I can help it…" he murmured.

"I don't think you know me enough to say something like that."

"Sorry… I just know that most people shouldn't ever have to come near him. I just don't want to see you hurt."

She sighed. "Yeah, yeah… Whatever. I don't promise anything though. Now, please scram. I need to sleep."

"You're not sleeping in here!" Kish half-shouted, utterly terrified.

"Oh, really?" she replied sarcastically. "Then where do you suggest I sleep, Einstein?"

"Not here! It's completely thrashed, and who knows what might happen if Aoyama decides to drop by!"

"Then where?"

"Um… You could sleep in my room. My roommate is away for about two weeks, visiting his grandmother." A faint blush coloured his cheeks.

"Dear God, that sounds even worse, you know." Ichigo glared at him.

"I didn't mean it like that, honestly!" He put his hands in the air, as if to defend himself. "I may be a sick perv, but I wouldn't ever use the opportunities I'd get just because of us two sleeping in the same room. Look, as long as we stay in that room I won't even try to touch you. Sounds fair?"

Ichigo nodded wearily. Kish could be really stubborn at times. And right now she was in no mood to deal with it. She was too mad, too tired and too hungry for that.

"I guess so."

"Yay!"

Ichigo frowned. She was getting a head ache.

"Let's go already. I really need some sleep."

* * *

At the rooftop of the grey school building that was Shibata High, a dark haired boy was scowling. He was clearly not pleased with turn of events. His prey still ignored him most of the time, and she was very hateful towards him. That she hated him pleased him much, but was she still scared of him? Yes, a little bit, but most of it had turned into fury as soon as that teacher died. 

For some reason, ever since her first day he had been entranced with her, as she had an aura he could easily sense everywhere – not to mention that she had guts. It interested him how she hadn't gotten caught being a girl yet. But what intrigued him the most was the fact that he couldn't read her mind, not see her thoughts, her past or what she was feeling. With others it was so easy to just rip everything apart, then sew the pieces together again in the way he wanted them.

Well, there was another thing too. She was pretty. Prettier than most people he had seen, and even beautiful. Exotic. This made the hunt even more exciting.

But for now, none of it mattered. Why? Because he couldn't sense her anymore, that was why. She had entered her room, perfectly happy – which annoyed the hell out of him – and then it turned to white hot rage. And after that… Her presence simply vanished.

How?

Just how?

Masaya knew she had no knowledge of the powers he used, nor did she seem to have any of her own, which meant someone else was wetting their nose. And he hadn't noted any odd auras in the school. So either it had to be a master, someone he was too familiar with to notice, or an outsider.

He raked one hand through his hair, letting the wind blow his body cold. Silently, he levitated a notebook to his hands.

He'd have to write this down.

* * *

_A five year old Ichigo frowned. She couldn't reach the jam on the shelf, because it was too high up. Even with a kitchen-chair to stand on, she was way too short. _

_But this was the perfect chance, since neither one o her parents were home. She was all alone, had been for a while now, and she really wanted to eat something sweet. She would not give up. But it was impossible, no matter how she tried._

_Then, suddenly the jar seemed to fly towards her, and she caught it with a happy giggle. She was just about to open the lid, when it turned to some kind of black sand, and ran out through the spaces between her fingers._

_Ichigo grew older, as the dark sand danced around her, forming a long corridor with dark grey walls and black doors. She realized she probably was a few weeks older than in reality, having a few new scars, but not feeling much different from before._

_At the end of the corridor, there was a mirror, a mirror seemingly made in some kind of liquid that had the colour of lightening – electric blue. Its frame was made in steel, sculptured to look like thunderstorms and plants of the earth. In the corner of it sat a woman, who was playing on a flute, which sprouted small twigs and leaves and was connected to one of the lightening bolts._

_It fascinated Ichigo, and she moved closer to it. Perhaps it was her imagination, but as she came closer, a faint humming was heard from the mirror, and the air got easier to breath._

_But then she turned around. At the other end, where she had been before, was Masaya._

_He didn't seem pleased. Slowly, he raised his hand, beckoning for her to come closer. But she didn't, and the dark haired boy scowled darkly, the air around him crackling with dark energy. He was just about to strike, when…_

"Ichigo! Ichigo, wake up dammit! You're only dreaming!" she heard a vague voice say.

It was cold, like she was swimming in an iced sea. She whimpered silently, refusing to open her eyes. What had happened? She wanted to know more, wanted to know what was in that mirror, why Aoyama Masaya was there - and all in all what was happening.

Then there was a warm hand on her forehead, contrasting sharply with her cold skin.

"Ichigo", the voice demanded, clearer this time. "Open your eyes."

"I don't want to…" she whispered, annoyed.

Suddenly, she was swatted on the top of her head, and her eyes flew open in an angry glare.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

Kish looked worried for a moment, but then smirked victoriously. Somehow, though, the look of worry still lingered there, somewhere.

"You were having a nightmare", he stated.

"Oh."

"Aoyama was in it, wasn't he?"

Ichigo nodded slowly, scowling.

"And you do understand that he is trying to manipulate you, don't you?"

Again, she nodded.

"And that you probably should do everything exactly opposite of how he wants it?"

"…Yeah."

"And that he will get really pissed?"

She rolled her eyes.

"And that you're really sexy and that you want me in your pants right now?"

She glared her best death glare. "Harr harr. Nice try."

Kish shrugged. "Had to."

"Too bad you swore not to lay a finger on me while we're in this room, then." Ichigo smirked evilly. "You know, I could figure out so many ways to torture you in right now."

"…And?"

"And you can't do a thing about it."

"I never said anything about the outside though." He licked is dry lips. "I might just as well pounce on you as soon as you take a step out of here."

"Bugger." She pouted.

Suddenly he grew serious again. "But really. Stay away from him as much as you can. I'll ask Daisuku-sensei to switch our seats tomorrow."

"… Okay. …Look, I'll stay away as much as I can, but as much as I'd like to get some sleep right now, I'm really sweaty, and in bad need of a shower."

The green-haired boy chuckled, although he knew this was just an attempt to avoid talking about this particular topic.

"Right, go and wet yourself-"

"Do you have to say it like that?"

"And make sure you're clean enough for your liking, princess."

"Idiot."

"Go shower."

"If you say so."

Halfway through the door, she turned around slightly, just enough to show the boy a bit of her face. It was dark, so all that could be seen was a faint glimmer of her ruby eyes, and her mouth curving into a small smile.

"Thanks", she murmured softly.

And then she left.

* * *

Ryu could not believe his eyes. What was that pink-haired boy doing in _Kish's_ room of all places? Kish's! And on top of it, he didn't even seem nearly as hostile towards him as before. From what he read in his expression, it seemed like he even liked him! 

Horrifying flashes of imagination with Ichigo's smooth skin and that bastard Kish's smirking face passed though his mind, and made him feel sick. What if? No.

That boy had the right to do absolutely anything, and Ryu wasn't in the rightful position to tell him otherwise. If he was happy with some green-haired monkey, Ryu wouldn't lift a finger to separate them, because Ichigo deserved to be happy.

As soon as he thought that – once again with a mental picture he didn't want to see – the jealousy kicked in. He tried to squash it like an annoying bug, but the more he tried, the more it grew. He desperately needed a distraction.

And he got one, though not quite what he had in mind.

Ichigo.

Ichigo, newly emerged from the bathroom – why'd he need the bathroom in the middle of the night anyway? – Small droplets glistening in his now scarlet hair.

Again, that little 'what if?' came creeping into his thoughts.

Why _would_ he need a shower after coming out of Kish's room? The only time that had happened before was… And he nearly gasped as he remembered. That was when Kish had a lover there.

Before he knew what he was doing, he stomped up to his current love interest, cornered him and put one hand on both sides of his pretty little head.

"What?" he heard Ichigo's almost feminine voice ask irritated.

"What exactly are you doing in that prick's room?" He couldn't keep himself from growling.

"That's none of your business."

"Tell me!"

"Nothing, actually, if you really must know."

Now he was being glared at. Great.

"Nothing? You say you did nothing in there!"

"Yes. What the hell is up with you anyway?"

"Nothing. Just nothing", he spat bitterly. At least the boy could be honest with him. But no, that wouldn't do. He couldn't be trusted with such things.

"I repeat: What the hell is up with you? What crawled up your arse and died? Nothing, my arse!" Ichigo hissed angrily.

"That's my line!"

"Wha-!"

"At least you can tell me when you've got a boyfriend!"

"Oh. So basically, you're just jealous."

"So what if I am? At least you could have -"

"Now, listen here! There's noth-"

"You could at least have told me you two were fucking!"

Ichigo growled furiously. "Now, like I said, listen -"

"But you know what? I just don't care anymore!" He grabbed a firm hold of the smaller boy's wrists, slamming them against the wall, wincing inwardly as he saw how easily they bruised. But the feeling of rage was far more dominant.

"Ryu!"

"I was going to let you have your happiness, but you wouldn't even tell me what was going on!"

"That's not-"

Suddenly he was just so tired of holding himself back. "Just shut up."

And then his dry lips crushed into Ichigo's softer pair.

It felt like heaven.

The pink-haired boy opened them just one tiny bit in surprise, but it was enough. Ryu slid his tongue in, exploring that wonderful mouth.

Softness.

Warmness.

Wetness.

It tasted faintly like strawberry-flavoured toothpaste, not the most erotic taste, mind you, but it tasted so much like _Ichigo, _exciting him to no end.

Still, there was one problem.

Ichigo was not kissing him fact, but was instead struggling to get free.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know. I suck. It probably would be wise not to expect a new chapter for a very long time… TT;;; I have a lot of stuff going on, like entrance exams, handling life, and my doctor says I shouldn't overexert myself. 

Anyways, next chapter:

How will Ichigo react to Ryu's kiss?

Kish starts falling for her seriously.

Masaya being a prick as usual.

And… An unexpected meeting.

…

…

…Reviews make me happy. :D


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